Cuba Criticizes US Senate Hearing on Attacks on Diplomats

HAVANA TIMES – The Cuban government questioned today the validity of the hearing held in the United States Senate on Tuesday over the alleged acoustic attacks on US diplomats in Havana, and restated its denial of having any responsibility in the events, reported dpa news.

“The true purpose of this hearing was not to establish the truth, but to impose by force and without any evidence an accusation that they have not been able to demonstrate,” said Josefina Vidal, director of the United States desk of the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on the alleged attacks, whose origin is unknown and according to Washington happened between the end of 2016 and August 2017.

Todd Brown, Deputy Director of Diplomatic Security at the State Department, said that in addition to the possibility of an acoustic or sonic attack, US researchers are considering the possibility of someone infecting the victims with a virus.

“The acoustic symptoms could be part of another attack,” Brown said. “There is a virus, there is an ultrasound, and there are a variety of things that the technical experts are looking at.”

The official did not offer more details or evidence in his testimony at the hearing that was chaired by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, one of the politicians most critical of the softened Cuba policy promoted by former President Barack Obama.

“The State Department has no evidence that allows it to affirm there were attacks against its diplomats in Havana, nor that Cuba may be responsible or have knowledge of third-party actions,” Vidal said at a press conference.

The Cuban official pointed out that “on the contrary, months of exhaustive investigation have shown that there was no attack”.

A few days ago, an FBI report was leaked to US media, according to which no evidence of an acoustic attack has been found.

The United States claims that since November 2016, 24 diplomats stationed in Cuba and relatives suffered attacks of unknown origin that caused symptoms such as dizziness, headaches, hearing loss, among others.

Cuban experts who investigated the US accusations ruled out the acoustic attack because it would have caused an extremely loud noise in the neighborhood where the diplomatic residences are located, something that did not happen.